In a delayed reaction to the CVC's order for an investigation into the fake institute — Institute of Electrical Engineers (I) — being run by faculty members of IIT-Kharagpur, the HRD ministry has finally set up a three-member probe panel.
The committee will consist of Pradip Mathur, director of IIT-Indore and S K Jain, director of IIT-Gandhinagar.
Surendra Prasad, director of IIT-Delhi, is likely to be the third member. Though CVC had given the ministry four-week deadline to wrap up the probe, the delay in setting up the committee could lead to missing the stipulated timeframe.
Also, getting people from the IIT system is bound to raise the concern about a possible conflict of interest.
When the CVC's directive came, the ministry had first planned to set up athree-member committee, comprising IIT directors. However, later it changed its mind and said a senior HRD official would carry out the investigation.
Finally, it has decided to let IIT directors investigate the fake institute allegation. West Bengal Police is already investigating the case, and is likely to quiz former directors K L Chopra and S K Dubey.
The panel has been asked to verify the allegations. In case the allegations are found to be true, the panel has been asked to find out the complicity of others.
